YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

Eggscuse the marketing gimmicks

By Gene Hall

Marketing gimmicks are getting more confrontational. One company claims their pasture-raised eggs are better than cage-free. They say “no BS eggs,” but with the cruder form of the word. That depends. If there is any BS around, pasture-raised chickens will eat it.

Is pasture-raised better? Is cage-free better than traditional housing?

No method is problem-free, but buzzwords and feel-good marketing schemes add costs.

Cage-free, a term driven by consumer perception, isn’t as simple as turning chickens loose. And pasture-raised exposes chickens to things like predators and weather. I guess that’s okay if you like to live free and die hard. Undesirable food sources also crop up with this management style.

Traditional cages have their advantages. They are efficient enough to lower prices to under 10 cents per egg, with the safety of the chickens in mind. It’s hard for the cage-free product to manage less than double that.

An egg-loving public has many choices. Hostile marketing, however, is just a bunch of clucking.

The preceding commentary is brought to you by Texas Farm Bureau, the “Voice of Texas Agriculture.” Called “Your Texas Agriculture Minute,” TFB will issue thought-provoking editorials each week—via print and audio—to spark understanding of agriculture in the Lone Star State and its impact on each and every Texan.